- souk
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Medina in Fes is absolutely stunning not only because it's the biggest old town in the Arabic world. In there you can find an incredibly big market where you could get everything, numerous tanneries and an awful lot of impressions. Here's how I saw Medina in Fes: www.fm1721.com/experience/africa/morocco/
Plan at least one whole day for discovering Medina! Also choose your tannery viewing carefully as there are lots of crooks in Medina.
Medina, Fes, Morocco
My daughter and I reached Aleppo's souk by bus from Damascus, then by walking through progressively narrower streets, pretty much following the throng.
It was pistachio season and photogenic trays of nuts were on sale right and left. But the souk is great for not bring a tourists' pastiche. It has many rope stalls, plenty of domestic items - much like a UK everyday market with added panache and intimacy.
We ate rich, hot foule (beans with tahini and oil) in a cramped servery with men having their lunch break; then chatted to a young jeweller - I wear his earrings, inlaid with tiny dots of silver, back home in the Midlands. He then recommended a fabric shop and my front door now has a curtain embroidered with pomegranates.
The souk isn't enormous, but is a working place shot through with the skills and traditions of an ancient city.
To top it all you can climb up the ancient settlement and look out over the city, or just meander back to the bus chewing apricots, munching pistachios or pondering more textile purchases in the less atmospheric shops. Syria's many things, including tough for many, but here's a trip in which the old Middle East abuts the new and for that it sticks always in the mind.
Easy from arrival in Aleppo.
Google map: bit.ly/95ynN8
The Grand Baazar in Istanbul, is one of the most magical, colourful and delightful bazaars I have been too. Bustling with tourists, locals and traders, it is bursting with hookah smoking pipes, glass tea sets, and outstanding Persian rugs.
As a tourist you will be a target for the traders who will raise their prices ridiculously high, but even so, welcome you with Turkish hospitality with a glass of Apple Tea which you can sip while mulling over your next purchase.
This Bazaar is a modern souk but is filled with shadows of Ottoman glory, and is an experience not to be missed.
The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey.
Google map: bit.ly/971vwW
The best coffee I had in the whole of Syria was from a hole in the wall at the entrance of Khan al Gumruk, deep inside the Aleppo souk. The man in charge dispenses tight espressos for pennies.
Tucked into alcove just outside the entrance to the Khan Al Jumruq, Aleppo souq
One family still weaves goat hair Bedouin tents in Damascus, in the heart of the souk where the Bedouin come in from the desert to buy them. You will find them as you go through Bab Al Faraj, one of the Old City's seven gates. Bear left, and look out for the workshop at number 65 on the left-hand side. If Mohammed is there he will gladly show you upstairs how he teases the coarse hair into balls of wool by walking backwards down the length of the room.
Also in Damascus, don't miss the atmospheric saddle souk (Souk Srijeh), where horse and camel saddles and talismanic paraphernalia are still made and sold. To enter it, stand outside the Damascus citadel (facing it) and take the first souk to your left after the little bridge over the river.
Once you have walked through the saddle souk, turn right on to the main road, Malek Al Faisal Street, where you will see, on the left-hand side, the copper souk (Souk Nahassin), consisting of two, dark covered alleys. Inside you will see men making mosque spires and Christian baptismal fonts, door handles, hot water tanks and re-tinning cooking utensils. Fascinating to watch!
Souq al Hamidiyeh
Google map: bit.ly/9FNAil
My husband and I went to Morocco three years ago and spent a few days in Essaouira and then a couple of days in Marrakech. At first we found the prospect of haggling rather daunting but after a day or two we just decided to ‘get stuck in’.
The initial shock for me was how time-consuming the whole ceremony of haggling is, starting with polite chat about “Where are you from?”, “Where are you staying?”, and many more questions. All I had in my head was “How much is it!”. But after a while I got used to this and understood that it was a new cultural experience and a different ‘shopping’ experience - although certainly it was not as sweet as presented in the last instalment of SATC!
If you visit those two places as we did, I recommend practising your haggling in the less hectic and crowded Essaouira as the stall holders seemed to be more relaxed and happier to chat and talk. In Marrakech the souk was an absolutely crazy experience and the sellers are more ruthless about getting good prices out of tourists. In my view the items on sale in Marrakech were less stylish and interesting than those in Essaouira.
For those who cannot see themselves haggling, there are shops with fixed prices (but you still can haggle in them if you like!). The shop I bought my favorite earrings in was Chez Abdou in Marrakech. Nice and short haggling and they were mine for a decent price. (Or at least that is what I thought.)
To sum up I would recommend Essaouira for more stylish, unusual items (pottery, lamps and candle holders), whereas I personally found the jewellery shops more interesting in Marrakech.
Jewellery Shop: Chez Abdou Objt d'art, Saba Grawa Lakssour No 70, Marrakech
Google map: bit.ly/9VUsdJ
A side of meat hanging outside a tent; choose your piece, it's sliced, minced, patted together with fresh coriander, fried, the freshest meatballs you've ever tasted. At one end of the market, old blokes try out a new mule (yours for only 600 euros, but that was the starting price: haggling is the order of the day), or bargain for sheep and goats. The other end, cheap plastic kitchenware, lurid furnishing fabrics, row upon row of clay tagines. Nail clippers, tins of sardines, old bikes, shoemenders, it's all here. Never mind the tourist souks of Fez or Marrakesh with their pink babouches and knitted camels, this is the real thing. Where else can you sip mint tea in a tent and be serenaded by an old turbaned fiddler in bottle-glass specs?
Azrou - bus from Meknes; market is 20 minutes walk from the bus station
Google map: tinyurl.com/3xk8we9
Don't be shy in proposing what, to you, may seem a ridiculously low price for something in the market. The prices bear no resemblance to what you would pay at home. Enjoy the game. Some of your best memories will be the day you got the store keeper down to £1 for a set of three stone pyramids. Some of his best stories at home will be the day he only made 50% profit from you. But he didn't mind because you played the game. Have fun, join in the banter and start to walk away at least once during the process. Trust me, he will call you back!
Khan El Khalili, Cairo
Google map: tinyurl.com/327smg8
It is definately worth investigating hiring a guide to go around the souk with you in Morocco. Not only will you get less hassle from the sellers but you can avoid getting lost (it is a maze) and also benefit from their local knowledge.
Be careful as most guides will receive a commission from stall owners for bringing tourists, but don't let this deter you.
Preferable if you are female.
Google map: tinyurl.com/3xhxvkf
The souk in Sousse is absolutely amazing with hundreds of shops and stalls selling Tunisian souvenirs like carpets, blankets, cloth, copper ware, pottery and jewellery. Some of the leather and tiles for sale were the best I have seen. I would highly recommend the soft, fresh dates, displayed still attached to the branch where they grew and tasting nothing like the hard, sugary dates found in British supermarkets.
Haggling is, of course, expected and part of the fun. For those that prefer not to haggle, quite a lot of the shops selling tourist-aimed items are 'prix fixe', (fixed price).
We found the shopkeepers at the souk to be very friendly and felt both safe and comfortable.
The souk is situated in Sousse's Medina, a warren of streets contained within ancient walls. A map is highly recommended.
Google map: tinyurl.com/3alqae2
If you look beyond the much celebrated souks of Damascus and Marrakesh, a brilliantly understated example are the souks of Tripoli. There is something about this place off the beaten track, that really preserve an air of adventure. Teaming with narrow alleyways, pungent aromas, vibrant fabrics and steamy hammams, it is an unforgettable experience. If you fancy a snack, the town is famed for its speciality sweet, 'haliwat al-jibn', which can be found in numerous outlets. However, my favourite feature was to be found within the Souk al-Sayyaghin. In the 18th Century, Tripoli was famed for its soap, and a small factory can be visited. The humble workers show you around the small surroundings, while explaining the process, before offering a plethora of soaps of all shapes, scents and sizes. Available for very reasonable prices.
Soap shop: Bader Hassoun
Phone: 03-438 369
Found just off Al-Kind Arjieh St.
Google map: tinyurl.com/34xblno
The Souk in Muscat sells many things you will find in similar places across the Middle East but comes into its own for those Omani specialties, Frankincense and Myrrh, together with beautiful silver burners.
The Souk is on the Corniche in Muttrah, close to the ancient heart of Muscat.
Google map: tinyurl.com/37qqa95
The tentmakers market in Cairo is famed as the last roofed souq in the city, but it is so much more than that.
Walk slowly along the street and allow your eyes to pause inside each doorway. You will see each booth is adorned with beautiful hand-sewn furnishings which range in size from huga wall hangings to cushion covers. Some show donkeys, birds or fish (or the obligatory pyramid and camel/sphinx scene), but most are geometric designs or stunning stylised calligraphy. In many of the shops you will also find men sewing these intricate designs while they wait to welcome their next customer, whether they are buying or browsing.
Less than half the shops here sell tents now, but these are easy to spot as they have miniature versions of their tents out on display on the street. They seem to come in all different shapes and sizes but all beautifully decorated with the brightly coloured and patterned "Ramadan" material that you can also buy by the meter here. Make sure that you take a left through a passage way just a few meters before the roofed area ends, as this will take you into a large courtyard where the largest tents are erected and shown.
The model tents are perfect presents for kids, especially as they come with a camel toy, but if you have space in your luggage you can really treat them with their own 1m square Bedouin tent that comes with light wooden poles. Grown ups with a lot of luggage space and a large garden might even buy the full-size version!
A significant part of the fun of visiting the tentmakers market is the walk there from Midan Hussein. It's just so refreshing to be able to leave the tourist hub-bub behind and explore "real" Egypt. As you get further from the Khan El Khalili the shops are selling less tourist souvenirs, you get less hassle from the sellers and you start to see the city and its wonderful people.
The tent maker's market is in Cairo on Al Khayamiyya, just South of Bab Zuweila and the cross roads with Ahmad Mahir Pasha.
It is about 15 minutes walk from Midan Hussein (where the Khan El Khalili tourist market is). From the tourist market cross the main road (Al Azar) using either the underpass near the main square or the footbridge a little further down. At the base of the footbridge on the south side of the Al Azhar road you will find a pedestrianised street which is covered by a high wooden roof for about 30m between two mosques. Walk down this street and through the local clothing market. Keep going and you will get to Bab Zuweila which was once the gate to the Old City. Once you pass through Bab Zuweila you will find the roofed tent makers market straight ahead.
Google map: tinyurl.com/33o3lkc
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